The Lion within the Snake
by thosefanficsofmine
Summary: So what if Snape had been Sorted into Gryffindor? What would happen then?(Snily, but a bit of Jily.)
1. Chapter 1

Severus closed his eyes tightly. The hat was soft on his overgrown hair, and he felt it squirm over him.  
"Very interesting..." it cackled. Severus could feel his palms sweating. "Cunning, witty, a desire to achieve...and yet, brave, loyal, determined - where to put you?"  
Severus opened his eyes and saw Lily in the vast audience, seated at the Gryffindor table, and for once in his life, Severus felt a rushing desire to become a Gryffindor. The hat seemed to notice, and with a final wriggle, announced: "Gryffindor!"

The table of Gryffindors burst into clapping and cheering. Lily was the loudest of them all, her face alight with joy. Severus scurried over to sit in between her and a grinning boy with tousled dark hair. "I'm so happy that-" Lily started, but Dumbledore had stepped up onto the podium and had started clearing his throat to speak.  
"Hufflypuffles, slitherylins, ravenclawkles and gryffindorrises alike - welcome to Hogwarts! Here are a few words before the meal...Doxy, Pumpkin and Rack."  
Severus caught Lily staring in astonishment at the bespectacled old man with the snowy-white beard that drooped past his waist and chortled. Noticing his splutter, Lily turned around.  
"Is he...is he mad?" she hissed, cupping her hands so that her moving lips were hidden.  
"No, loads think he is, though. He's brilliant," Severus answered, glowing over at the Headmaster.  
"Uh - where's the feast?" Lily frowned as she retrieved her hands. Severus was about to agree, when there was a loud crack and succulent-looking foods appeared on the tables. All around him, people had started tucking in...the tousled boy beside him had grabbed at a chicken leg and had begun devouring it. Severus shrugged and snatched a leg of his own, piling it onto his plate along with a slab of Turkey and some bread and cheese.

"Alright," the tousled boy turned round to him and nodded. Severus was taken by surprise. Never before had anyone talked to him first, unless it was to fire insults at him.  
"Um...hi," Severus replied in a quavery type of voice. The tousled boy threw his head back in a laugh and shoved forward a hand.  
"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black," he chuckled.  
"Severus Snape," Severus shook the hand firmly.  
"Seriously, I'm so surprised I wasn't in Slytherin. All my family have been," Sirius went on, biting a chunk of chicken from his honey-coloured leg.  
"Me too! I - my family'll me...I don't know what to do, really..." Severus panicked, remembering his mother raising him to believe that Slytherin was important.  
"Same - if I let them. Catch that happening. They do my nut in anyway, I think it'll be a laugh watching them stub me out of their little family tapestry." Sirius was laughing again, a large, booming chortle that made Severus unsure. He'd never heard anyone laugh that loud. He'd never seen a smile that huge either, not even on Lily.

Once the prefects had taken them to the Gryffindor tower, Severus looked around the common room. It was the opposite of the Slytherin one his mother had told him about; she had said that the Slytherin common room had a tall, silver ceiling and three long chairs made of metal and designed with intricate snakes. The fire was always a bright emerald green and the walls were the same shade. Apparently, there was a secret shelf that contained all the Dark Arts books one could imagine, hundreds of books magically encased to one steel shelf that bore the same ornate snake patterning as the chairs. The Gryffindor common room was wonderful, Snape thought...all colours were dark, reddish hues, the fire warm and natural, squashy, comfortable armchairs scattered here and there, and a shelf that was naked apart from 'Guide to Herbology' and 'Hogwarts: A History'. Severus knew that to Gryffindors, friendship and loyalty was far more treasured than brains and cleverness. His mother had of course, always scoffed at that...but the idea was more becoming to him every second.

"Oh, Sev! I love it here!" Lily sighed, spinning round and flopping down on one of the armchairs beside the flickering flames. Severus smiled at her, grinned at Sirius...  
"Me too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Sev! Get up, you lazy git!"  
"Mehhh..."  
As Severus let his eyes flutter upon, he was burnt by a vast sting of sunshine in his eyes.  
"You look like a mole, mate," James chuckled. Severus buried his head in his pillow.  
"But it's Saturday!" he growled.  
"Quidditch Day. You have to support me, I'm your best friend, it's in a contract," Sirius Black said smugly. Contract? Sometimes, Sirius sounded dumber than a stick of wood incapable of being a wand. In truth, Severus had no interest in Quidditch. None at all. But Sirius did, and Sirius had managed to lug the objecting Severus along to every game since the start of the year.  
"Leave it, Sirius, he's tired. I'll go with you, won't i? I'm thinking of trying out, y'know," James was saying, but Severus muffled the noise with his pillow. He'd thank Potter for covering up for him, if he hadn't been trying to replace him (with Lily and Sirius) since the beginning of the first term- this term. Rolling onto his front, Severus tugged his duvet over his head. He heard a trickle and the cloth above his face was dampening. He dragged his head out of the warmth and saw Sirius' wand spouting crystal-clear water all over his face.  
"Come - on - Sev!" Sirius was yelling, and Severus blocked his face with his hands and rolled his eyes.  
"Fine," he grunted. Lily better be there. Remus was nice enough, but it was annoying with Potter trying to block him from Lily or whoever constantly. When Sirius was there, Potter would usually quit. Lily found him irritating, too ("I wish that James would stop badgering me. He's ever so annoying, you know.")

In case Lily didn't want to attend Quidditch, Severus slipped his Defence Against the Dark Arts book into his grubby rucksack. Then, he, Remis and Potter set off to the game. The wind was whistling, the weather challenging, and Severus wished he was inside more than ever.  
To his dismay, the game started and Lily hadn't appeared. Settling in his seat beside Remus, Severus discreetly opened his book and scoured the words. He found it dreadfully interesting. Lily named it 'his little weird obsession', but not cruelly. No, Severus had never heard her pretty mouth speak cruelly since knowing her. Severus liked Hogwarts a lot - it was a million times better than he had imagined. He had a best friend and a - well, he had no idea what Lily was to him, but he knew that he valued her above all others, yet she was not his best friend. Sirius had often laughed at him for his lank, thin, naturally oily hair like nearly everyone he encountered, but kindly. He even learnt a damn shampooing charm that he'd fired on Severus every morning. As if he thought Severus hadn't tried everything already. Still, the Severus in the mirror had changed drastically. There were laugh lines beside the thin lips, colour in the usually drained cheeks, joy in the black eyes. And his hair had lost some of its sadness. His will to live - and his hair's, it seemed - increased everyday here.

"Put your bloody book down, Sev, look!" Remus called out, and Severus glanced up. Sirius,the Seeker, had just caught hold of the struggling snitch. Remus was applauding, Potter hooting support, and Severus let his book clatter to the floor and whooped loudly. Sirius was the youngest Seeker in about 80 years, how cool was that? Severus grinned all over his face and clapped until his hands hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

The party that night was massive. Well, to Severus it was. They had won the Term Tasse, and all because of Sirius. Gryffindors were all gathered, drinking butterbeer companionably and the boys noticed several couples kissing passionately. Severus felt his cheeks fume pink as he imagined himself kissing Lily. They hadn't been pat Hogwarts long when he'd noticed for the first time how gorgeous she was...

"Was it a good game, Sev? Sorry I couldn't be there; Slughorn's asked me to prepare a lesson to teach. Imagine that, I have to teach!" Lily looked crestfallen at the news.  
"It was pretty cool, I guess," Severus shrugged. She'd shake her head if he told her the truth. "I'm just not looking forward to teaching Pettigrew. He'll surely make fun of me..."  
Severus' face sound when he thought of Peter Pettigrew, the short, stout, rat-faced baby of Slytherin. He was best pals with the most massive bullies Slytherin had to offer, and liked to tease Lily to the point she'd come crying to the common room. Of course, he was never the ultimate source of bullying, he was more likely to be standing safely behind the shields of his big, buff friends' armour. He made Severus and his friends' lips curl.  
"If he does, I'll brew him a little potion and he'll come to his senses," Severus assured her.  
"Oh no, Sev, don't!" she piped out. "I- just, don't."  
Severus adored her innocence, her kindness. In his early childhood, that had been the speck of light in his world of darkness. "I won't, Lil, I promise."  
Lily's lips did not move, though the green pools that were her eyes smiled warmly as she squeezed his hand. Severus noticed James Potter over the room, scowling. Severus let her hand drop.

{I thought I'd add some Snily, but there won't be much more until they get older. Then, there'll be a LOT. Sorry for the shortness.}


	4. Chapter 4

"Here, Sev, come look at this!" hissed Remus. Sirius looked up from his assignment to stride over to his huddle of friends. He noticed Potter frown in exasperation at Remus, but Remus just shrugged with a smile and Sirius shot a look of quiet anger at Potter.  
"What?"  
"Look!" Remus repeated. Severus looked at the piece of silver cloth Potter was cradling, and his eyes widened.  
"Catch on, did you?" Potter said snidely.  
"Would you shut it, James? It's an invisibility cloak!" Sirius said, sounding in utter awe. With reason, too. Severus' mind was already bursting with ideas that mainly consisted of stealing into the night beneath the cloak for midnight walks with Lily.  
"Where did you...how did you?..." Severus was breathless. Potter grinned smugly.  
"Well, my grandad left it to my dad. He's still alive - thank Merlin - but he gave this as a birthday present. A late one, but still," Potter was stroking the silver cloth proudly.  
"Go on, give it a go!" Remus begged. Potter shrugged and swung the cloth over his head - and immediately his body was immersed in - well, it seemed like nothing. He was invisible. Not silent, though - his laughter was still loud and infectious. Severus found himself struggling to breathe for laughing, and soon Remus and Sirius followed. Potter lifted the cloak so that it only covered his head, making him resemble a headless man. By this time, they were all hooting with laughter and gasping for air.  
"Come on, get in, get in!" Potter was giggling, opening the cloak. They all scuttled in, and to Severus' surprise, Potter pulled him in with a grin of friendliness.  
"Woo! We're ghooosts! Imagine what we can pull of with this! We could - we could..." Sirius began listing the endless pranks they could pull off, but Severus' brain blanked. He was still dreaming of having Lily's hand clasped under his as they studied the night time stars beneath the safety of the cloak.

"We should - we should scare the girls!" Potter suggested.  
"Oh, no thanks," Remus was shaking his already.  
"Reem, where's your bravery? You in, Sev?" Sirius grinned devilishly.  
"Uh - which girls?" Severus tried to sound nonchalant.  
"Our girls, obviously. Lil and her mates," Potter sighed. "who did you think? Narcissa Malfoy?"  
"I'd prefer scaring her, really...but okay! I'm in!" Severus shook hands with them both.  
"Fine. Me too," Remus sighed.

It was possibly the most nerve wracking time of his life. The four boys were huddled under the cloak, the tips of Remus' long feet peeping out. They crept towards the 1st Year Girl's room, and soon spotted Lily's and her friends.  
"So you really like him, then?" one of the girls, not Lily, was saying.  
"Um...yeah." This time, it was Lily. Severus' heart stopped.  
"Come on, boys!" Sirius whispered, shoving open the door. Lily sat on her bed, with a cluster of girls, two brunette and one blonde.  
"Merlin's pants!" shrieked the blonde girl.  
"What?" Lily perked an eyebrow.  
"Something's there..." Brunette Girl Number 1 said in a quaking voice. Lily turned around fiercely, and Severus felt like fainting. She was so perfect.  
Brunette Girl number 2 had already darted across the room to her own bed, snatching her wand up and pointing it into nothing. "Unveil yourself!" she kept whimpering. Severus rolled his eyes. Sirius leaned forward and with a quick bat of his hand, he knocked over a Candle. Remus gasped in horror as flames began to lick the floor.  
"I thought it was a lamp," hissed Sirius.  
Severus dragged the cloak away from them and pointed his wand at the flames. He whispered the charm, and suddenly a stream of water burst from his wand. The liquid seeped onto the flames, which immediately died out.  
"Nice one, Sev," Remus grinned, clapping him on the back.  
"Who in the name of Merlin knocked that over?" Lily roared.  
"That'd be me," gloated Sirius, ruffling his hair. Lily snarled.  
"Get out, will you! All of you!" she shrieked. They all began to disappear beneath the cloak to walk away, when Lily caught Severus' sleeve. "You don't have to. Thanks."  
Severus shrugged, smiled, and joined his gang of mates.


	5. Chapter 5

The Christmas holidays came as a pleasant surprise. Both he, Sirius and Lily had vowed that they would stay home, and Severus guessed that it would be the best Christmas he'd ever had.

The day that everybody when home, the 20th December, brought joy to most. The weather was brilliant; snow matted the roofs and the ground, as well as dusting the windows. The crystals sprinkled the striped scarves and hats and sat upon the lashes of the students, and light mist hung in the air like a promise. Severus watched from his window as Remus and Potter boarded the Hogwarts Express laden with their trunks and owls.  
"So..." Sirius yawned, stretching out. "What's the deal?"  
Severus turned around to view his lazy best friend. "What?"  
"What's the deal?"  
"Yes, he I heard that bit. What do you mean?" Severus rolled his eyes, raking his fingers through his hair. Sirius chuckled and knuckled his eyes.  
"What's the deal with you and Lily Evans?" he looked at Severus seriously.  
"Uh - nothing - I - she's my..." Severus searched for the word. He found it, the perfect word, but of course he couldn't say it.  
"Girlfriend? Friend with benefits?" suggested Sirius. "Don't be shy. I've snogged loads, I get the meaning."  
Severus hesitated. "She's my..." he cleared his throat. "Damn it, she's my everything."  
Sirius' face at first curled up into that laughing smile, but then he turned deadly serious. "Damn, Sev, that's deep. So you don't just want a snog? You don't just think she's fit?"  
Severus looked appalled. "No! I've known her since I was eight, I think she's beautiful. A snog would be alright, but that's not the point." He hated having this conversation with Sirius. Sirius was not the sort of person you could have deep relationship discussions with, and to be honest,unless he was with Lily, Severus was not a soppy person.

Suddenly, Sirius was sliding his arms into his cloak.  
"What are you doing, Black?" Severus asked. Sirius smirked slyly again.  
"We're off to see her. Lily Evans," Sirius nodded, flinging Severus' cloak towards him. Severus moaned, but followed his friend out the door. He wanted to see her, anyway. Sirius couldn't change a thing.

"Evans!" yelled Sirius. Lily looked up from her Potions book irritably, but softened when she saw Severus. "Black!" she retorted, slamming her book shut and sliding it into her bag.  
"What's the deal?" Sirius asked. Severus glared at him icily. He felt his face drain of colour.  
"What?" Lily scowled, shrugging on her bag and striding up to them. Sirius repeated himself.  
"I know, Si, I know. What deal?" Lily rolled her perfect eyes and Severus had the urge to kiss her. He told himself it was just his hormones partying away inside his head.  
"What's between you and Sev?"  
Severus looked as if he wanted to crawl under a hole and die. He did, actually. He saw Lily's cheeks become attacked with crimson and her eyes slid away from his, her curtain of deep red hair shielding her Ruby face. Sirius was laughing at them.  
"Lovebirds!" he called, and raced away. Severus sighed, and sat beside Lily. He saw her draw out her book again and begin to read. She looked so earnest, so pretty and delicate. Severus had wondered if this was it, if this was love. He was far too young, really, barely twelve. Still, age didn't matter. Severus' heart had never dilated this quickly before.


	6. Chapter 6

"SEV, YOU IDIOT, WAKE UP!" screeched Sirius.  
"Noooooo!" wailed Severus in despair as Sirius pushed his tousled hair from his face, summoned a pillow and quickly charmed it to beat his best friend repeatedly.  
"It's Christmas!" Sirius was singing then, odd songs about the Yuletide that Severus had never heard before. He liked them, even when Sirius sang them in his hoarse, strangled-cat singing voice. Severus didn't need to be told twice, diving out of his duvet and glancing quickly in the mirror before he and Sirius fled to the tree in the common room. Severus looked dishevelled, but more joyous than ever. He had changed a lot, from the sallow, rather sad boy to the bright, happy boy with friends and a - and an everything. He noticed, with utmost approval, that the oiliness in his hair seemed to be decreasing rapidly every time he looked at it.

The two boys flew down the stairs into the heated common room, where a bristly tree stood, adorned in red and yellow decorations, gifts scattered beneath. Sirius plunged forward, grappling the presents for a label reading 'Sirius' or 'Si' or 'Black'. Severus did the same. He knew, deep down, that there would be nothing, but it never hurt to check. Besides, for the past few years, he'd received a little present from Lily. That meant more to him than anything.  
"Get in!" he heard Sirius cry as his friend snatched a gift and shredded the wrapping. It was a book on Quidditch: 'How to be a Half Decent Seeker'. "The bloody cheek of Potter!" Sirius was guffawing. Severus continued to riffle through the pile of gifts until came across one wrapped in starry paper labelled 'My Sev'. Fingers trembling, he carefully untied the navy ribbon and peeled away the paper. Inside was a book...not an ordinary book. It was a photo album. Carefully turning his back towards Sirius, he opened it to find still pictures of him and Lily in the park, both grinning widely. A side note read: 'remember when I brought my muggle camera with me?' They were both eight years old, and Severus' smile looked horrifically unnatural on him. The next page had still pictures of nine year old Severus trying to climb a tree - and then of Lily perched at the top. 'I was always a better climber' the side note read. The next page had a still picture of the pile of books Severus had bought Lily in preparation for Hogwarts. There was another of her gazing at them, spellbound. 'You gave me magic, Sev.' Then, for the next page, the two of them were in moving pictures on the Hogwarts express, happy as Larry. 'You grew happier, as did I.' There were then a hundred blank pages ready for the future. Severus bit his tongue. He wouldn't cry.

Quickly hiding the treasure in his bag - which he summoned - he grabbed a package from Potter. As if he'd sent him anything. He ripped the wrapping paper and a book fell out: 'How to Be Nearly Competent at Flirting, For Awkward annies'. Severus laughed. Potter had a weird sense of humour for sure. To his shock, he saw a tiny gift from his family. A minuscule ring with a snake on it. 'Give it to Narcissa Malfoy, a true Slytherin, unlike our own boy' read the letter. With a snarl, Severus flung the ring into the fire and it melted slowly. How dare she inside his happiness like that.

Sirius lent Severus his owl, Rabbid, and Severus sent his two gifts to Remus and Potter. Potter's was a tiny broom, and Remus' was a metal wolf. He had no idea why, but he felt that it fitted his friend. Remus sent Rabbid back with two packages - both of them the same. Ridiculously bright bobble hats with the Gryffindor emblem. The cards? 'Show em what's what at home'. Finally, Severus gifted Sirius a silver snitch - a working one. Sirius gifted Severus with a ring. The ring had two faux emeralds on them, the same shade as her eyes. Sirius smiled mischievously. "So you don't creep her out. You stare at the real things enough."


End file.
